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Journeys
Port Gamble: Small town with big history 1853 hub recalls New England village Brian Clark, For The Olympian PORT GAMBLE -- Diane Duka gazes out over the village cemetery toward Puget Sound and drinks in the view.
"I love bringing out-of-the-area guests here," says the Seattle woman. She is guiding her friend, Diane Reed of Denver, around Port Gamble on a sticky, warm July afternoon.
"This town is one of the oldest in Washington, and it's so full of history," she says.
The cemetery is on a hill above the stables.
Surrounded by a wrought-iron fence, it has the graves of loggers, women who died in childbirth, managers, workers who perished in mill accidents, at least one unlucky sailor and many residents who lived long lives in the town.
"Have you seen the grave of Gustavus Engelbrecht?" she asks. "It's right over there. You know, he had pretty bad timing."
Engelbrecht was the first U.S. sailor to die in the Northwest. The poor fellow stuck his head above a log on Nov. 19, 1856, and was shot in the temple by raiding Indians from British Columbia.
"Better still," Duka continues, "this is an incredibly pretty place, what with its tree-lined streets, views of the water, stately homes, general store and New England-style architecture.
"I think the town, to say nothing of its great museum, is a hidden gem," she says. "A lot of people who live in Washington don't know about this place. They should, because it's certainly worth a visit."
Founded in 1853 by lumbermen Andrew J. Pope and Capt. William Talbot, the village is a National Historic Landmark. The boxy houses, shops and public structures reflect the building style of Pope and Talbot's hometown of East Machias, Maine.
Built around a sawmill
"This place is unique," says Port Gamble Historical Museum curator Shana Smith. "It was the site of the longest continuously operating sawmill in North America, which ran for 142 years before closing in 1995.
"There is nothing quite like it on the West Coast. It's very much a transplanted New England village. In some ways, it's kind of like Williamsburg, Va., a living history town."
More than 145 years have passed since Talbot -- and right-hand-man Cyrus Walker -- sailed north from San Francisco on the good ship Oriental in search of big trees, a deep-water port and a site for a mill to serve the growing California market.
In Puget Sound, they found what seemed to be an endless supply of Douglas fir, hemlock, alder and cedar at a place Native Americans called "Teekalet." In Salish, Teekalet means "brightness of the noon-day sun."
A dozen workers -- most of whom were from New England -- soon began work on the Pope and Talbot mill. Then they built the general store, an 82-year-old descendent of which stands today on Rainier Street.
The general store remains the focus of town life, just as it was more than a century ago.
"This building is neat," says Alice Chang, a 13-year-old from Chicago who was visiting relatives in Silverdale.
"It kind of feels like going back in time when you go inside," adds Chang, who was licking an ice cream bar in front of the shop.
That's exactly the atmosphere that Marcell Berlin, who has owned and run the general store for the past three years, is trying to preserve.
"It's an old-fashioned store for sure," says Berlin. "We don't have a lot of demand for sides of beef, pickle barrels, thread or bolts of material anymore -- the things that people needed to run their homes back then.
"After all, you can only sell so many crock pots today. But we do have old-fashioned rock candy, licorice root and horehound candy. It's amazing how many old-timers will come in and say, 'I remember that.' "
Berlin also runs a deli in the back of the store, where she makes delicious smoked turkey, corned beef and ham sandwiches, plus homemade clam chowder and chili.
The remainder of the store is devoted to gourmet foods and cooking supplies, with a strong focus on the Northwest.
A native of Bremerton, Berlin has been coming to Port Gamble for decades.
"I came here when I was young, and I brought my kids here, too. This town grows on you and you become part of it. It's a wonderful place to preserve. It's a real treasure."
Thomas C. Rice, who has run the Sea and Shore shell museum on the second floor of the general store for 25 years, has roots that go way back into Port Gamble history.
"I was born in the old hospital in 1939 and went to elementary school here," says Rice. "The hospital used to be just down the hill, but it's gone now. My great-grandfather, who had emigrated from England, came here in 1859 and sold logs to Pope and Talbot.
"My grandfather worked in this general store, and generations of my family worked in the mill," he says.
"I'm happy with the way this town has been preserved. They've done a good job and saved the character of the town. It's quiet and peaceful here. It's nice."
A must-see museum
Around the back of the general store -- facing the site of the old mill -- is the entrance to the Port Gamble Historic Museum.
Created by Alex James, who designed the Royal Provincial Museum in Victoria, British Columbia -- it is a must-see stop on any visit to the town.
Near the entrance of the museum is a replica of Talbot's cabin on the Oriental that is so realistic that many people begin to bob a bit when they look at it.
That's because James rigged a screen outside that shows a forested shoreline moving up and down.
Look at this display for more than a minute, and you'll swear you're on board a real ship with the Sound moving underneath you.
"It's fun to see visitors getting their sea legs in front of Capt. Talbot's cabin," says curator Smith.
Around the corner is a saw-filing room that dates to the early 1900s. The craftsman's tools sit about the room as if he had just stepped out for a few minutes.
Farther along is the bedroom of early mill manager Cyrus Walker. It features an imposing black walnut bed and a mirrored dresser that were brought around Cape Horn from Maine.
Up on Rainier Avenue, a dog lies in the middle of the street and a youngster rides his bike on the sidewalk under tall, leafy trees.
Sturdy, well-cared for homes line the street, leading up toward the big water towers that provided water to generations of Port Gamble residents.
"You get the feeling that this was a solid, pleasant place to live," says Duka. "Maybe that's part of why I keep coming back here."
AT A GLANCE
The Port Gamble general store is little changed from the day it was built in 1916.
Getting there: Take Interstate 5 north toward Tacoma. Take the Highway 16/Bremerton exit off I-5. Continue on Highway 16 across the Narrows Bridge. After looping through the community of Gorst, you will meet the interchange where Highway 16 becomes Highway 3. Port Gamble is accessible from Highway 3. The Olympian Copyright 1999
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